Elevator control system



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H. W. WILLIAMS ET AL ELEVATOR CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Jan. 51, 1955 18 Sheets-Sheet 17 AT EY Jan. 5,y 11937. H. W. WILLIAMS E'r AL 065,921

ELEVATOR CONTROL SYSTEM ATT EY and /Wne-s.

Patented Jan. 5, 1937 PATENT OFFICE ELEVATOR CONTROL SYSlEli/IA Harold' W. Williams, Charles F. Carney; and- Richard W. Jones, Chicago, 111.', assignorsV to Westinghouse'Electric Elevator Company; Chicago, 111.", acorporation of Illirioisl Application January 31, 1935, Seriall No. 4,282!

27 Claims;

The presentinvention relates tdsysterns oi.

control for electric'elevatorsand*v particularly to suchrsystemsin-` which a plurality of cars are operated4 togetherv as-a bank.`

The: present: invention'is of the general. type inwhich the stopping ;of1the cars of the-bankcontrolled: by passenger: operated push but-v tons; located: atk the various" floor landings and in whichanuintending passengeris given any inloidication'r. at-thetime. hen registers a call as to which',carfofthefbankais nearest .his floor andin condition..to':be, stopped. Representative systemsv oithistsame'general .character areV also disclosed in the copending applications of Bouton, et al.,l

Bouton,1et al.'Serial;No. 736,672, led July 24,

1934; of' Eames, Serial No'. 700,257', iiled November '29,11933.; ofi Jones; .Serial No. 754,987, led November 27; 1934; and ofi` Eames, Serial No.

755g578; .filed-December' l, 1934, all ofl which are assigned toi'- thetWestinghouse. Electric Elevator Company."

In the` rst of! the abovel-identifiedi applications, eachA car ofi the bank-is1providedwith i-'individual' up and downvpush buttons at the variousfloor landings, and. signalling devices are7 provided to inform intending passengers which carof'f the bank` is nearest and in condition to-respond tor` the call. This indication serves to'inform anv intending passenger which button' to operate, after' whichv he is enabled tofl'oonat` any given time," and depending further upon whether a'particular car is in condition to receive a call at such given time. In these systems, operationfofanypush button registers a call on'the car and'in conditonto receiveacall. The registra- 7 tion"of"the-call immediately produces a signalA in-forming' the" intending passenger which car will respond` toY his call.

The# present a invention embodies features of operation anddetails1ofstructure1which are of 'value^- in connection withl either of the above Awhich at that time is the 'nearest' two -classesoflsystems as We1l-as in connection with elevator systems generally, as will become more apparent` in the: course of the following description.

In.the:.illustrated embodimentl of the present inventioneach1car of the loankis` provided with a push button stationy comprising one up button-. and.` one f down: button, .located at each fioor servedby that. can'- 'Ihe push button stations may be locatedadjacent the respective hatchway entrancesbutw preferably all of the push buttonstations for'xa particular floor arel collected in a.panelandlocatedata central point at 'that' floor;

Anindicating device, .comprising lamps for each car, isprovidedto. indicate. to intending passengerswhich car of the bank is nearest the correspondingzfloor and in condition to receive acalh TheilarnpsareV controlled in accordance with the@ relative: positions and directions of travel ofithe' several cars and are disposed to provide :a :continuousuindi'cation Operation` off the` indicated push button at any-floorlandingregisters: acall for the corresponding-foori'andtdirection on the associated car and also' immediately lights a floor lantern for" suchv carandlfioorl Theoor lantern informs the.'y intending ypassenger that his call has beenk registered, and,v being' preferably located adjacent'the associated'hatchway entrance, enables the intending passenger to Vproceed directly to' such entrance;

Unless" af call soregisteredisv transferred to anothery of thecars; or cancelled, as hereinafter described,Y- it" causes?A the* corresponding car to stopY at the' corresponding floor upon its appreach from the corresponding direction, and

operation of the floor signal, and thus misinform other intending passengers.

Each car of the bank is also preferably provided with a set of car buttons, comprising one button for each floor located within it and effective upon operation to stop the associated car at the corresponding floor. In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, the previously mentioned floor signals are illuminated when a corresponding car stops at a floor, in response to operation of one of its car buttons as Well as when it stops in response to operation of a. corresponding call button.

It has been found in practice that when any car of the bank stops at a fioor, all intending passengers at that floor who wish to travel in the indicated direction will ordinarily board that car although they may have registered their calls on other cars of the bank. For this reason, the present invention comprises an arrangement whereby the stopping of any car of a bank at a floor cancels all calls registered for that floor and direction, thereby preventing subsequent unnecessary stops of other cars of the bank.

In the operation of systems of the general character to which the present invention relates, it happens from time to time that calls registered on one car should be transferred to another car. This may occur because the car upon which the calls are originally registered becomes fully loaded and cannot accommodate additional passengers. In systems in which it is intended that the cars shall travel in a certain rotation or with a certain spacing between cars also, it may occur because a leading car tends to fall behind its schedule or a following car tends to get ahead of its schedule. The present invention comprises mechanism for transferring calls between the several cars to accommodate both of the above two mentioned operating conditions.

During the rush periods of the day when trafnc is sufficiently heavy to require bypassing or transferring operations, the majority of stops made during down travel of the cars are in response to hall calls to receive passengers. It frequently happens that a car becomes fully loaded after only one or two stops, and accordingly bypassing operations are frequently required during downward travel. During upward travel of the cars, however, the majority of stops are in response to car calls, to discharge passengers, and bypassing operations are infrequently required even during rush periods. Accordingly, the present invention is arranged so that the mechanism for transferring calls from a leading car to an overtaking car functions during downward travel of the cars, but does not function during upward travel of the cars.

It has been found in practice that the tendency of the cars to depart from a normal spacing occurs more frequently during travel in the 4down direction than during travel in the up direction. As mentioned, during downward travel of the cars, the principal stops are made to receive passengers, and it is more difficult, under these conditions, to maintain proper spacing of the cars. During upward travel, however, the loading of the cars at the time they leave the terminal is more or less uniform, and the required stops of each car are more or less 'evenly distributed. For this reason, less difflculty is encountered in maintaining proper spacing. Since the transfer of calls from one car to another results in a transfer of lanterns, causing passengers who have positioned themselves in front of one elevator entrance to proceed to another elevator entrance, it is desirable to introduce such transfers only when necessary. For this reason, the present invention is arranged so that the mechanism for transferring calls from a leading car to an overtaking car functions during downward travel of the cars but does not function during upward travel of the cars. The system is arranged, however, so that if, during upward travel, a car too closely approaches a leading car, the following car is excluded from the signalling system.

To enable a car to transfer calls registered upon it to a following car, because loaded or for other reason, each car of the bank is provided with a by-pass push button individual to each other car of the bank. Appropriate signalling means are provided in each car to inform the attendants thereof which car of the bank is nearest his car at any particular time. Operation of the corresponding bypass-button transfers all unanswered hall calls registered upon the bypassing car from the bypassing car to such next car. The bypassed calls immediately light the corresponding floor lanterns for such next car and cause the stopping thereof at the corresponding floors. The corresponding floor lanterns for the transferring car are extinguished. The arrangement is preferably such that as long as a bypass-button is held closed, the bypassing car by-passes any calls registered on its car buttons, as well as transferring the hall calls registered upon it. Upon release of the bypassbutton, the bypassing car is again effective to respond to any calls registered upon its car buttons, as Well as to any calls subsequently, registered on its hall buttons. As mentioned, this apparatus functions only during down travel of the cars.

To enable the transfer of calls from one car to another in the event that one car overtakes another, travelling in the same direction, each car of the bank is provided with a transfer push button and a transfer light. In the event a car approaches within a predetermined distance of another, the transfer light is lighted, informing the operator of the overtaking carl that a transfer operation should occur. Operation of the transfer push button transfers all calls registered on the leading car to the overtaking car. The transferred calls light the: corresponding floor lanterns for the overtaking car and as an incident to the transfer operation, the corresponding floor lanterns for the leading car are extinguished. In the illustrated embodiment, as in the case of the previously described transfer operation, a complete transfer operation involves both closure and release of the transfer button. The registered hall calls are transferred to the overtaking car upon closure of the button, but the cancelling of these calls from the leading car does not occur until the button is released. This sequence of operation insures the completion of registration of calls on one car prior to the cancellation of such calls from the other car.

The transfer light may be arranged to be lighted when the overtaking car is at any desired distance behind the leading car. In the illustrated embodiment, this distance is three floors. It may happen from time to time that a call is registered on the overtaking car for one or more of these intervening floors. In this event it is desirable that the transfer signal be Withheld as it may be expected that by the time the overtaking car has responded to such inter- 

